Capacitive sensing approaches find use in human interface devices, such as touchscreens. FIG. 1A illustrates a linear arrangement of capacitive elements (e.g., capacitive electrodes), such as in a touchscreen for example), and FIG. 1B illustrates an arrangement of capacitive elements to form an enclosure, such as, for example, a touch-sensitive casing for a device. Due to the numerosity of elements, such arrangements result in smaller capacitive elements, which in turn results in a small baseline capacitance. Further, as best illustrated in FIGS. 1C-1D, the linear (FIG. 1C) and the enclosed (FIG. 1D) arrangements are relatively robust against contamination, since typical particles that cause contamination, such as water and dirt, are unable to pass between the small spaces between elements.
Drawbacks of the arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D, however include high power consumption due to the large number of capacitive elements. Further, costs of element and/or device fabrication are increased due to the large number of elements, and the intricacies associated therewith.
There is hence an unmet need to improve input detection while addressing the drawbacks laid out above, while maintaining detection sensitivity.